Servitude
by Vengence-Angel2010
Summary: He gave up his birth name, his childhood, any chance of a normal life long before he was able to choose. But to Shokan, it doesn't matter. All that matters is Itachi-san and he will serve him no matter what. YAOI  I Do Not Own Naruto.
1. Prologue

**The plot biiju attacks again. ItaNaru. Enjoy.**

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PROLOGUE

The council was in recess, and Fugaku Uchiha had an idea. An idea that sprung up on seeing one of the Hyuga branch members doing the bidding of the clan head, Hiashi, without question. It would require him to actually suck up to the uptight Hyuga in order to gain the man's favour, but so long as no one else from the Uchiha clan overheard him he wouldn't be losing any standing among his own.

And, really, it was the best option concerning the jinchuuriki. The civilian's quest to have the child exterminated would be a waste of what will undoubtedly grow to be a very powerful shinobi. Developing that power within a strong clan environment would instil absolute loyalty to the clan and the village, in to the child. Besides, something as strong as a jinchuuriki would be able to keep up with Itachi in battle, and protect the heir like no other, resulting in a higher standing for the Uchiha as a whole.

Yes, for the good of the clan, it was the best idea. Now he just had to negotiate a marginally closer alliance with the Hyuga, and think up a way of wording his request to the Hokage to somehow make it seem that he had only the demon child's best interests at heart.

* * *

"Get me Uchiha Shuichi." Fugaku ordered. The household servant quickly bowed before dashing off to complete the errand. The head of the Uchiha household sighed, looking down on the sleeping blonde infant on his study desk. It had taken surprisingly little to get the Hyuga to acquiesce with his plan to have a variation of the Caged Bird seal developed, to be placed on the little blonde boy. Only the release of two branch Hyuga's into their clan's justice, rather than facing a public trial and sentence. In other words, death by seal induced cerebral haemorrhage. In actuality, it will be a winning situation for all involved; the Hyuga save public face and the Uchiha-Hyuga grudge is lessened. A light knock on the door interrupted the clan head's musings.

"You requested my presence, Fugaku-sama?" The man at the door began.

"Yes Shuichi. Take a seat." He motioned to seat by his desk. "I am going to offer you a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of the clan. I don't like to waste talent, and as a skilled jonin, I would hate to have to disown you. I realise that you are still grieving the loss of your wife and son, but some of your actions, or lack thereof in regards to missions, are not upholding the clan's honour. Would you like to hear the terms?"

The man nodded sharply, he knew he was getting off lightly what with not having shown much of the famous Uchiha Pride since his only son had died and gifted one of his sharingan to an outsider. Fugaku pointedly looked to the slightly squirming bundle of blankets on his desk.

"This is the kyuubi jinchuuriki. He will be joining the Uchiha clan for the purpose of training him to be the personal guard of the clan head. I intend on gifting him to my eldest, Itachi, after the jinchuuriki receives a version of the Hyuga's Caged Bird, to ensure he will be controllable. The task I'm giving to you, is to raise and train this child until his fifth birthday. I expect you to train him in all aspects of being a shinobi, as well as Clan rules and etiquette. By that time he must be at a high genin level at the very least, which we all know is very possible. You will receive mission payment as this child's upbringing will be your top priority for the next five years. I will not accept failure, you understand." The marginally younger man ordered. Shuichi was doing a fairly passable impression of a Greek statue; he was not going to mess up this offer he had been given.

"I accept your gracious offer Fugaku-sama." He stated evenly. "I will not fail the clan, nor this child." Fugaku's lips actually tilted upwards at the corners fractionally.

"The name he was given by his birth parents is 'Naruto Uzumaki', which the general public is aware of. For the child's own safety I suggest you select a more suitable name." The Clan Head motioned for the other man to pick up his newly adopted son from his study desk.

Shuichi Uchiha looked into bright blue eyes that contained a spark which reminded him of his now deceased child, Obito. He smiled sadly at the child, at his chance of redemption in the eyes of the clan and as a parent.

"Shokan. Shokan Uchiha." He reported to his superior, not taking his eyes from the child in his arms. Fugaku nodded his approval; Redemption was a good name for a weapon, even if the other man had not meant it that way. He dismissed the new father and son from his presence.

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**What do you think? Should I continue with this idea?**


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Shuichi realised that he had raised a prodigy. His nearly five year old son could beat a clan chuunin. With his quick mind, incredible speed, and jonin level chakra reserves, the little blonde boy was a force to be reckoned with. The only problem was, try as they might, the boy had absolutely no ability with genjutsu. And as genjutsu was pretty much synonymous with the Uchiha clan, this could put the boy at a huge disadvantage when it came to being able to keep up with Itachi; thus why Fugaku-sama was overseeing Naruto's pre-testing today. While man's face was completely impassive, his eyes gave him away- the head of the Uchiha clan was obviously impressed.

Shokan finished his spar, and stood in front of the clan leader at attention, face impassive. It was a carefully crafted art that Shuichi had taught the boy. How to please the Clan Head when he was around, and still be his normal self the rest of the time. The closet blonde really wanted to pull off his dark coloured bandanna and do a little victory dance after winning that spar, but he held himself still. If he wanted to run around free later, he needed to hold still now.

"Shuichi-san." The Clan Head called to his subordinate.

"Hai Fugaku-sama." The older man now approached respectfully.

"He is very impressive." Complimented Fugaku, "Yet you tell me he has no genjutsu abilities?"

"None at all." Shuichi replied. "He has even had special tutors. My son is able to sense and dispel up to C-rank genjutsu, but is unable to cast any himself. In all other ninja arts his learning abilities are unrivalled among his age group." The Clan Head seemed to mull this over for a minute.

"He will do." The man decided at length. "After the sealing Uchiha Shokan will begin his training with clan heir Uchiha Itachi." The two lower house members bowed respectfully to their leader as he departed the training grounds.

As soon as Fugaku was out of sight, the father and son broke into broad grins, and Shokan leapt into his father's arms. Shuichi swiped off the boy's bandanna and ruffled the spiky blonde hair affectionately.

"Good work Shokan. I'm proud of you, my boy." The man praised.

"Thanks Ottou-san." The boy chirped.

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The day of the sealing came. Shokan was met at the gates of the clan compound by both the Clan Head and his Heir. The ten year olds presence was a surprise to the younger boy, but then again, since Itachi-sama would be his leader and master from today onwards, it made sense that he was there. Shokan nervously adjusted the dark wrappings on his face; they obscured the tell-tale whisker marks that marked him as a jinchuuriki. He'd worn the wrappings, as well as the bandanna for as long as he could remember to keep his distinctly non-Uchiha traits as well hidden as possible.

His father had even given him an early birthday present this morning, Obito-nii's old goggles. Shokan liked them because they used to belong to his nii-san, rather than the fact that the orange colour hid his blue eyes. From what Uchiha-sama was saying to Itachi-sama, the young boy realised that the clan would be pushing for him to enter ANBU and get behind a mask as soon as possible; apparently having the Clan Head's sons out done by a half-blood was some sort of dirty little clan secret. Shokan liked the idea of working in ANBU; he might get to meet the one Obito-nii gifted his eye to. The rest of the clan felt that Uchiha Obito was a disgrace, but to his adopted brother he was someone to look up to.

Shokan swapped his thinking face for his impassive one (not that anyone else could tell the difference) as the small group approached the east gate of the Hyuga complex. Some words were exchanged between Uchiha-sama and Hyuga-sama, before they were escorted inside and to a small clan medical clinic. The blonde did his best to hide his nervousness as he was lead to a separate room for the sealing, followed by the Hyuga responsible for the procedure, and Itachi-sama at his father's insistence. He lay on the metal table in the centre of the room as instructed and was stripped of his bandanna to display his forehead. A few minutes trying not to give in to the tickling sensation of the sealing brush, and fast hand signs were performed. Shokan felt like his brain was being put through a blender for a split second before the small boy lost consciousness.

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Itachi tried not to let his growing concern show on his face, even though the only person around was currently unconscious. He hadn't gone to the Kyuubi Festival the day before, as his new 'guard' was still recovering from the sealing. The Hyuga who had been allowed into the compound to check on the boy had said that this was a normal reaction to the seal.

The young chuunin had removed the blonde boy's face wrappings once he was securely inside Shokan's new room in the Main house. It was attached to Itachi's own bedroom through a sliding paper door. Itachi would hear if anyone entered, and could cover the young jinchuuriki's markings before anyone else saw.

He looked over the younger boy, taking in his unrestricted appearance. Shokan's thick, spikey blonde hair was splayed haphazardly around his head, like an exploding halo, and his blue eyes were currently closed in rest. Curiously, Itachi reached a hand forward to touch the unusual whisker-like marks on the younger boy's cheek, hesitating for a moment to marvel at their differing skin tones. While Itachi was almost translucently pale, like all typical Uchiha, Shokan was a light honey colour, even on the areas his facial coverings normally hid. Finished with his comparison, the older boy found the whisker marks felt like an old deep scar; still soft and skin-like, but with tiny raised edges around the indentations that made up the marks. They were apparently very sensitive too, as Shokan twitched. He pulled his hand away and turned his eyes to the rest of the boy.

The blonde was still dressed in his dark blue pants and sleeveless grey muscle shirt that he'd worn on the day of the sealing, his blue ninja sandals were by the door. Shokan was surprisingly small, considering his ninjutsu abilities, Father had told him that the boy had a larger chakra reserve than most new jonin. Standing up, he would be shorter than even little Sasuke, and probably a little bit thinner too. The little blonde's developing arm muscles were easily visible, and he seemed to carry very little baby fat. Itachi wondered how healthy for a growing child that really was. Even he, himself, had never been pushed that hard as a five year old, to have clear muscle definition at that age, and Itachi was constantly pushed to be the prodigy that he was.

While he thought, Itachi fingered the orange goggles that Shokan had had around his neck during the sealing. He recognised them as having belonged to cousin Obito. Itachi had always liked his smiling cousin. When everyone else was always so serious, Obito would take time to laugh and joke, reminding young Itachi how to be a kid again. He hoped Shokan was like Obito in the personality stakes, there were few enough people who would smile in the clan.

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**Thank you to my small number of wonderful reviewers. Next chapter should be more action-y lols. Now I should go and actually do some work... **


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